Progress 03/01/10 to 02/28/14
Outputs
Target Audience: The advisory group gathered for the final time during the funding period for this project. Farmers, local emergency management, service providers, and higher education were represented. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?
Nothing Reported
How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Project results and lessons learned have been reported to other AFRI PIs, attendees of the American Association of Extension Veterinarians Applied Animal and Public Health Symposium, Vermont town officers, Extension Disaster Education Network delegates, state veterinarians, dairy cooperative members, and the general public. Smith, J., R. L. Parsons, and S. E. Rowe. AFRI Biosecurity Project Update. Agri-Mark Region 8 Meeting. December 6, 2012, Middlebury, VT. Smith, J., R. L. Parsons, and S.E. Rowe. Costs and Challenges Associated with Developing and Implementing a Community-Wide Biosecurity Project. Agriculture and Food Research Initiative Project Director Meeting. December 1, 2012, Chicago, IL. Smith, J. Vermont's Dairy Farm Contact Recall Challenge. American Association of Extension Veterinarians Applied Animal and Public Health Symposium, October 20, 2012, Greensboro, NC. Smith, J. Vermont Dairy Sustainability: Challenges and Opportunities. Vermont Dairy Industry Association Conference, September 19, 2012, Burlington, VT. Smith, J. Milk Truck Cleaning and Disinfection Drill. New England States Animal Agricultural Security Alliance. May 7, 2012, White River Junction, VT. Smith, J. Incorporating agricultural disasters into all hazards planning. Town Officers’ Education Conferences. April 4, 2012, Burlington, VT. Smith, J. and S. E. Rowe. Engaging Stakeholders in Animal Disease Disaster Preparedness. Extension Disaster Education Network Annual Meeting, October 13, 2011, Portland, OR. Smith, J. Agricultural Emergency Preparedness. Vermont Emergency Preparedness Conference. November 5, 2011, Stowe, VT. Smith, J. An Overview of Modern Livestock Production: Trends and Vulnerabilities. August 30, 2011, Agricultural lecture series, Ilsley Public Library. Middlebury, VT. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Farmers involved with the project have a good idea of steps to take in the event of a highly contagious disease emergency. Open-ended interviews have been successful in identifying perceptions and possible solutions to monitoring access of farms. Interview data compiled through this project will inform the development of risk communication messages and an interactive web site for farmers. A model of producer financial survivability has been piloted in collaboration with the USDA Economic Research Service. Economic impacts are currently being estimated for several scenarios. A work group established in Vermont through this grant will continue to promote agricultural emergency preparedness beyond the end of the funding period.
Publications
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Progress 03/01/12 to 02/27/13
Outputs
OUTPUTS: To help livestock farmers and surrounding communities prevent disease transmission and minimize the indirect costs of disease control in the event of a highly contagious animal disease emergency, this project has continued to engage with dairy farmers and community members to investigate and develop preparedness and response strategies in their best interests. In year 3, the results of the farm traffic (contact) recall intervention were analyzed by an undergraduate and presented as an abstract at the UVM Undergraduate Student Research Day. Results were also presented at the US Animal Health Association. A manuscript is under preparation. Additional interviews with farmers who participated in the contact recall intervention were conducted to assess perceptions and motivators regarding controlling access or recording visits to their farms. To demonstrate on-farm biosecurity protocols, a milk truck cleaning and mock disinfection drill was conducted and featured in an Across the Fence episode. Lessons learned were shared with the New England States Agricultural Animal Security Alliance. A website is under construction in which audio and video will be used to engage visitors in an interactive, informal learning experience. In collaboration with USDA ERS, we will be testing a decision-support tool that farmers can use when considering recovery alternatives in the event of a highly contagious animal disease emergency. Meetings with project advisors every six months have presented relevant information and project progress. The blog site, http://blog.uvm.edu/jmsmith/, features project activities and related information. PARTICIPANTS: One undergraduate who had helped conduct the farm traffic (contact) recall intervention used the data for an independent research project. As summer interns, two Animal Science undergraduates and one recent graduate assisted with farmer interviews and an investigation of contact networks of dairy farms. TARGET AUDIENCES: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
Through this project, farmers and community members are becoming more aware of animal disease disaster issues and where to find resources to better respond in an emergency. This project will make a difference in the lives of farmers, agricultural stakeholders, and emergency management personnel across Vermont by investigating the feasibility and acceptability of on-farm biosecurity practices, especially in the face of a highly contagious disease emergency.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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Progress 03/01/11 to 02/28/12
Outputs
OUTPUTS: This project is predicated on the assumption that proactive planning and response can enhance the resilience and sustainability of agricultural businesses and communities if an animal disease disaster strikes. In year 2, farmers, allied industry members, and emergency managers have been engaged in a number of project activities to investigate their perceptions of and possible responses to a hypothetical foot-and-mouth disease outbreak scenario. To meet objective 1, (Increase adoption of farm visitor record-keeping tools by increasing awareness of risk in agricultural contact networks), two undergraduate Animal Science majors were recruited to conduct the contact recall challenge with dairy farmers. They interviewed 26 participating farms and are in the process of analyzing the data. According to the plan for meeting objective 2 (Identify possible incentives to support protective emergency biosecurity protocols), interviews with individuals representing each of these stakeholder groups were conducted in late Fall 2010. Responses suggested that some local town officers are not sure of their roles in such a scenario and others focused on their roles in public information. Responses from farmers and allied industry personnel suggested they were prepared to implement significant biosecurity restrictions on their activities and would contact their veterinarian or Extension for advice. A public issues forum was held in September 2011 and a second session is planned for November to foster discussion of communications, biosecurity, and community planning strategies with the viewpoints of the three stakeholder groups represented. According to the plan for meeting objective 4 (Complete a farm-level cost-benefit analysis of implementing strict biosecurity in the face of a highly contagious disease outbreak), more in-depth interviews with case farm participants subsequently focused on getting their perspectives on a number of biosecurity practices that could be implemented in the event of a highly contagious animal disease emergency. Activities underway to meet objective 3 (Develop a catalog of educational resources) include capturing relevant video and still footage of farm activities and developing a website framework to host the content. Meetings with project advisors every six months have presented relevant information and project progress. The blog site, http://blog.uvm.edu/jmsmith/, features project activities and related information. In the next year, activities related to all objectives will continue. PARTICIPANTS: Dr. Julie Smith has provided overall project leadership, supervised the students conducting the contact recall challenge, participated in the in-depth case farm interviews with Dr. Steve Van Wie, and presented at the public issues forum and advisory meetings. Emergency biosecurity consultant Dr. Van Wie has presented in person to the advisors and to the first public issues forum in addition to contributing to the development of project biosecurity materials. Dr. Ellen Rowe has led the development and conduct of the stakeholder interviews on perceptions of and readiness for an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease. Dr. Rowe was also responsible for designing the public issues forum and recruiting facilitators. She has also presented to the advisors. Dr. Bob Parsons has been responsible for directing the activities of the project related to analyzing costs and benefits of biosecurity strategies in the face of foot-and-mouth disease. Louis Bedor III, outreach professional hired for the project, has coordinated all meetings and communications with advisors and media. His expertise and connections in video production have been critical to project progress. He has also learned how to create maps with Arc GIS and is gaining web page design skills. TARGET AUDIENCES: The primary target audience for this project is dairy farmers. All sizes and types of dairy operations in the northeast milk shed fit within the scope of this project. We are working directly with farms in Addison County, Vt, one of the top 50 counties for dairy production in the U.S. Secondary audiences for this project include allied agricultural industry personnel and town officers/emergency managers/community leaders who can use information from our project to plan and prepare for an animal disease emergency. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: A graduate student was not recruited to work on the project, so hourly temporary employees and student interns have been collecting the data that would have been the responsibility of the graduate student. The objectives can be met with this change in personnel.
Impacts
This project will make a difference in the lives of farmers, agricultural stakeholders, and emergency management personnel across Vermont by investigating the feasibility and acceptability of on-farm biosecurity practices, especially in the face of a highly contagious disease emergency.
Publications
- Suozzo, Andrea. 2011. Dairy forum deals with infectious disease. Addison County Independent. September 22, 2011.
- Suozzo, Andrea. 2011 Local farms prepped for emergencies. Addison County Independent. July 4, 2011.
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Progress 03/01/10 to 02/28/11
Outputs
OUTPUTS: In the United Kingdom in 2001, foot-and-mouth disease devastated the industries with susceptible livestock--cattle, swine, sheep, and goats--at a cost of over $15 billion dollars in a country only slightly larger than New England. Preparedness and proactive response plans are the best ways to reduce the economic, environmental, and social devastation that could be caused by a disaster like that in the US. Through this integrated research and extension project, over the next three-and-half years, we expect to (1) Increase adoption of farm visitor record-keeping tools by increasing awareness of risk in agricultural contact networks, (2) Identify possible incentives to support protective emergency biosecurity protocols, (3) Develop a catalog of educational resources to distribute to farms and agricultural communities in the event of a highly contagious disease outbreak, and (4) Complete a farm-level cost-benefit analysis of implementing strict biosecurity in the face of a highly contagious disease outbreak. In Year 1 we have (1) recruited four case farms to participate in the project, (2) developed a PARTICIPANTS: The case farms participating in the project represent a range of farm types in Vermont: a small organic dairy, a mid-sized conventional dairy, a dairy with its own processing plant, and a large-sized conventional dairy. The Addison County Regional Planning Commission and Addison County Local Emergency Planning Committee have been supportive of the project. Outreach professional, Louis Bedor III, has been taking relevant certified courses about the incident command system. A graduate student will be working on this project with Dr. Smith. TARGET AUDIENCES: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
This project is predicated on the assumption that proactive planning and response can enhance the resilience and sustainability of agricultural businesses if disaster strikes. This project will make a difference in the lives of farmers, agricultural stakeholders, and emergency management personnel across Vermont by investigating the feasibility and acceptability of on-farm biosecurity practices, especially in the face of a highly contagious disease emergency.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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